News

UPG keeps an eye on Brisbane’s tallest

When one of Australia’s truly landmark projects, the record-breaking Brisbane Skytower needed a real-time monitoring solution they turned to UPG to help.

Hutchinson Builders, who are constructing the 90 floor, 270m tower that will boast 1141 apartments and will be one of the Southern Hemispheres tallest residential buildings, were restricted by the Civil Aviation Safety Authorities (CASA) height limit of 274.3m over Brisbane’s CBD, which restricts the height the crane can work at.

The height ceiling has been put on the crane as it is operating in a critical flight path for the nearby Brisbane International Airport and any structure in this zone can interfere with the airport’s radar and navigational control systems.

Permission was granted for the crane to operate above the height limit during daylight hours only and with strict conditions, including the continual monitoring of the crane height by CASA, based in Canberra, and by Brisbane Airport itself.

The solution was to place the crane on hydraulic jacks that raise and lower the crane as required. GPS monitoring units were needed on top of the A-Frame and end of the boom to then transmit the data to a secure website.

UPG was contracted to install the system and within a week the monitoring system was live, allowing parties from around the country to access a live feed of the data. Trimble 4D delivered this effectively and with a variety of views and information.

“We created a customised view that displays various graphs and images on a single online page to allow one-stop viewing for all required details,” UPG’s Brent Dawson said.

The installation of the monitoring technology on the crane was not one for anybody with a fear of heights, as the photos show, requiring the operators to scale the boom to place the NetR9 TIMs.

The system allows real-time monitoring to ensure the crane is parked safely at night as well as not operating outside the allowed limit during the day or during inclement low-visibility weather conditions.

“We initially used the UPG Monitoring As A Service (MAAS). Along with our on-site surveyor, their team of experts commissioned and managed the system,” Hutchinson Builders Andy Rivers said.

“Using MAAS allowed us to have a system deployed and operational, and we could be trained at a later date before taking ownership. After a few months of seeing the long-term benefits, and because the Trimble 4D software is so user-friendly, Hutchinson’s can easily use the system on future developments for monitoring after this project is completed.”

“As the tallest building in Brisbane, Hutchinson is the first to tackle this hurdle of CASA-controlled airspace, and it seems certain that this method of monitoring will be the industry standard for buildings of the future.”

“UPG was easy to deal with, met our tight time frame for deployment and provided an active crane monitoring system with results accessible to any interested party anywhere in the country.”

“The roll out and commissioning was seamless and allowed for operations to continue on-site as planned,” he said.

“We utilise other Trimble equipment on site for our daily set out and construction work and have never been let down with service from UPG.”

UPG is delighted to have played a key role in conducting the monitoring work for this landmark project and in assisting Hutchinson in being the first to reach Brisbane’s building height limit.

UPG has the solution for your project. Contact us today to find out how we can help.